Information+literacy

toc = **Introduction to PLN's: Challenge 3** = Use the readings and videos below to help you answer this question in the discussion forum.
 * How do you determine whether the information you find online is credible and trustworthy? **

**Information Literacy**
Information Literacy is the ongoing process of sifting, organizing, analyzing and evaluating information and individuals in your PLN. According to the University of Idaho, information literacy is "the ability to identify what information is needed, understand how the information is organized, identify the best sources of information for a given need, locate those sources, evaluate the sources critically, and share that information."

Paul Barnwell, a Tennessee teacher, provides further insight about digital literacy in the information age: "Adult literacy in 2012 means being able to synthesize information from multiple online sources to write a blog post or substantive email. It means analyzing which online tools will best serve your communications purpose. It means making smart decisions about what information is useful online, and how to curate and filter the endless stream of data coming in. It means reviewing your digital footprint and learning how to take some control over what information you broadcast to the world, from your tweets, profile pictures, and recommended links ( [|Education Week Teacher, 2012] )."

Improving your information literacy skills is critical to maximizing the potential of your PLN. With the wealth of information and resources available online, it can be hard figuring out where to find information, what information and educators are credible and trustworthy, and being able to organize the information you learn so you are not overwhelmed.

Here are some information literacy tips for building a PLN:
 * Start with **well-known website** (i.e., Edutopia) and see what blogs/websites are mentioned (follow those) and who is contributing to the website (add these individuals to your social network)
 * Look for websites with thousands of subscribers and **good reviews**
 * **Look critically** at the information (if it doesn’t make sense or the writer does not seem to know what he/she is doing, delete that source from your PLN)
 * **Organize** your information/contacts to prevent information overload
 * Building a PLN should be **an ongoing process** - add resources, delete resources, build, grow (don't stay stagnant). If your career interest or the subject level you teach changes, add more resources/contacts to your PLN and delete the ones that are no longer applicable.

Critical Consumption
Howard Rheingold has produced a video and written various articles about critical consumption or "crap detection" (source). Critical consumption is the idea of figuring out who is trustworthy. In an online world where anyone can make a website, expertise has shifted from the individuals that write and publish books to everyone. However, not everyone is as trustworthy as they seem (this is an important lesson for you AND your students). So how do you determine whether the author of the text you read is credible? Do an Internet search of his/her name. See what other individuals have to say about that person. See what else that person has published. Do other individuals link to this author's articles? Who does this author cite in his/her article?

Take the **Crap Test** to help you with information literacy: @http://www.workliteracy.com/pages/the-crap-test/

Information Literacy Videos

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Reading/Additional Sites

 * [[file:Critical Thinking Handout.pdf]]
 * Crap Detection 101
 * ISTE Critical Thinking Wiki
 * Teachable Moment - Crap Detecting
 * media type="custom" key="19181958" (Howard Rheingold's Latest Book)

Discussion Forum
include component="comments" page="Information literacy" limit="10"

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